


Finish Your Beer

by Caro_the_Poet



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s07e21-22 Lost City, F/M, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28112664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caro_the_Poet/pseuds/Caro_the_Poet
Summary: So he does want her here. Maybe she can say what she’s come here to say, after all.
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 19
Kudos: 87





	Finish Your Beer

**Author's Note:**

> For @writingherhope.

“This was a bad idea.” Sam stands awkwardly next to Jack’s couch, clutching a beer in a white-knuckled grip. “I should go.” 

She hadn’t meant to interrupt him at home and disturb his last peaceful moments before Ancient data overwrites his brain. She should have known better. 

Jack looks up at her with an inscrutable expression. “Finish your beer.” His face softens. “And then you have to wait at _least_ an hour before you drive.” He flips the cap of his beer bottle across the room, as if he’s pretending to be more casual than he feels.

Sam lets out the breath she’s been holding. So he _does_ want her here. Maybe she can say what she’s come here to say, after all. She sits down next to him on the couch.

“Sir?”

He looks down and doesn’t answer right away, almost as if he’s dreading the direction this conversation might take. Finally he sighs and raises his eyes to hers. “What?”

“I should’ve done it.” She feels the words burst out of her as if they’ve been kept prisoner too long. And perhaps they have. Some part of her will never forgive herself for letting him do this a second time.

Jack stares at her, not sure he’s heard her correctly. “What? Stuck your head in that thing? Are you _nuts_?” The thought of it makes his blood run cold. He wonders if she knows he would have literally died before he let her do that. _I would rather have died myself than lose Carter_. He’d said it three years ago and nothing had changed as far as he was concerned. 

But she’s staring at him, as if startled by the force of his question. “Carter,” he says, letting his voice soften, “you’re one of this country’s natural resources, if not national treasures.” 

She looks away, and he hopes that means she understands what he’s trying to convey. “It couldn’t have gone down any other way,” he finishes. “I just…hope it’s worth it.”

She looks up at him with something wild and agonized in her eyes. He’s seen that look before, on those rare occasions when the secrets they have locked away in that metaphorical room have threatened to come spilling out. He braces himself for what she might say next. 

“Even if we find the Lost City,” she begins, her voice quaking almost imperceptibly, “even if we get there and find exactly what we’re looking for to defend the planet—”

He can’t listen to this. He can’t bear to hear what she’s insinuating, not now, when he’s dying and any hope of _someday_ is fading with every newly overwritten cell in his brain.

“That,” he interrupts sharply, “would be worth it.” 

But she looks into his eyes unflinchingly, her defenses down and her heart on her face in a way he hasn’t seen since they were trapped beneath the surface of the ice planet. “Not to me.” 

It’s a simple statement, but it seems to him like it contains all the feelings they’ve never openly acknowledged, all the declarations they’ve never made. He freezes for a moment, unsure how to respond, and he mentally curses his lagging brain that is definitely lagging a lot more than usual since the encounter with the Ancient repository. 

Tentatively, she reaches across the distance between them and rests her hand on top of his. And he gives up fighting. 

“ _C’mere_ ,” he says softly, taking the hand she’s given him and tugging her closer. She scoots over close to him, leaning her head on his shoulder and folding her legs up so that her knees are resting against his thigh. He wraps his arm around her shoulder and holds her there, and they both sigh, thinking of other versions of themselves in other realities who have all of this and so much more.

“Sir…what I really wanted to say…” 

She looks up at him and pauses, uncertain whether or not to continue. Real words for real feelings somehow seem even more dangerous than facing down Anubis. They’ve always been better at subtext.

He looks down at her, his arm tightening around her shoulder and his brown eyes soft and sad. “I know,” he says quietly. He presses his lips to her forehead and rests his head on hers. 

She closes her eyes and turns her face into his chest for just a moment, breathing him in. “I won’t let this happen, Jack,” she whispers.

Jack feels something like hope bubble to life in his chest. Of course she won’t let this happen. She’s _Carter_ , after all. He doesn’t believe in much, but his faith in Samantha Carter is like a religion. She’ll figure out a way to save him and make it look like any other Tuesday at the office. Like she’s done countless times before. 

He reaches up with his free hand and rests it against her face, holding her head against his chest and trying to memorize the feeling of her soft skin against his palm. _I believe in you, Carter. Always._

  


There is a knock at the door, and Daniel’s voice echoes down the hallway. “Heyy-OO!”

Sam sits up and scoots away until there is an appropriate distance between them.

“In here,” Jack calls, after sighing in annoyance. Trust Daniel to kill the moment.

But Sam smiles and touches his hand lightly before turning to greet Daniel and Teal’c as they enter the room. The two of them have had their moment, and no matter what happens from this point forward, the four of them are a team and will face this together. 

Jack’s shoulders relax and his eyes smile at Sam even though he keeps his face carefully neutral. _I love you, Carter._

_I know._


End file.
